pinoyboy

Hi, I'm about to get a car and I am seriously considering an f-body. However, I looked at their relaibility ratings on here and it seems to me like they're not that reliable. Have any of you guys experienced any of these problems that they are talking about?

I am a person coming from the import side and my last car was a DSM. I knew that they had a reputation of not being reliable, but I didn't experience any big problems, or maybe that was because I only had the car for 3 months. Well, if anyone could help me out, I'd appreciate it.

VoodooWS6

Mine is not a day to day driver, but it has been really reliable. If you start modding the hell out of any car, you are going to sacrafice reliability.

Remember part of the fun of this bored and the car culture is modding and fixing things that break. Gives all of us some sort of feeling of accomplishment..So go buy an F-body!

ActionJack

The link you have is for the 1998 Camaro V6 with the 3800.
This is for the V8: link

As for reliability? I had my 1999 Firebird with V6 for close to 4 years and had 65,000 miles. I just sold it (see sig) and it was in excellent shape. The only problem I had with that car was the driver side headlight motor needed to be replaced after someone almost stole the car and 'jacked' it up.

I currently have 2001 WS6 and have close to 2 years in it and 33,000 miles. I have had no real problems. I did have the window guide replaced on the driver side because of rattle (do not close door by upper glass, use the door). And I upgraded the front brakes on both. No problems and I am aggressive driver.

I would vouch for the F-Bodies based on my experience. However, with any used car purchase have someone qualified check out the ride first.


Also... a little more research showed the difference in years for the Pontiac V6 and V8: link to v6

VIP1

I have had my Formula for 3 years and driven it every business day, 60miles a day, for the past two years. This includes driving in snow (sometimes a foot). For the winter driving, I have a set of Blizzak tires mounted on cheap steel wheels. So... I'd say its reliable. Reliability ratings on cars now-a-days is kind-of a moot point because no new car currently on the market is going to leave you stranded.

Specs:
CAR: 2001 Black Formula
ENGINE: 5.7L LS1 V8
TRANSMISSION: 4-speed Automatic
BRAKES & STABILITY: ABS & TCS (Traction Control System)

pinoyboy

oh ok, well I was thinking of getting the V8, so I guess theres no big problems with it. Have any of you guys had any other problems you ran into? I was reading somewhere else that pre 01 cars grind gears during high rev shifts. oh, and thanks!

ZigZagZ

Reliability is relative. The longevity of an automobile is probably more dependant on how the car is driven and maintained by its owner, rather than how it has been built.

Just my 2 cents.

goldlifter

from what i have seen over the years, the drivetrain for f-bodies is the most reliable platform PERIOD. if you ask me, reliability reports are biased because is a toyota camry driver going to drive the same way as a trans am driver?...HELL NO!!!

GM Muscle

iTrader: (9)

My Z28 is a daily driver in the summer and it's a very reliable car. I push the car hard everyday and the only thing that has broken on the car is one of the wires used to adjust my drivers side mirror. New mirror kit was only $27.

mako22

iTrader: (2)

1. Buy the F-body - don't think about it
2. If you are going to drive it hard and do a lot of mods, be prepared for some problems. This goes for any car, not just F-Bodies though!

From what I've read on this extremely valuable site, you are less likely to run into problems if you plan your mods intelligently. If you add a bunch of HP and don't do anything for the handling/suspension/transmission, you are asking for trouble..

SShotgun_Rider12

I have only had my 2002 SS for two years and 22,000 miles, but so far the only problem I have had is a defective battery. Chevy replaced it under warranty at no charge to me. I do agree with what the other folks have advised you here. Do the routine maintenance at the recommended intervals and if you have questions about mod sequencing post up here for the answers. You will find that the LS1 powertrain is wonderful. The car is so much fun to drive.

VIP1

The only problems I have had are:
* Water in headlights (which blew them)
* Condensation in left reverse light
* Odd characters on radio display
All were taken care of under warranty.

Here are some other common problems:
(I have not experienced these)
* CD player stops reading disks
--(if this hapopens under warranty, its covered, otherwies, it has to be replaced)
* Headlight grinds or doesnt go up/down
--(covered under warranty, otherwise, easy fix)
* Window stops working properly

longdaddy

'01 Z28 with ~50K miles. maintained well but driven a lot in bad weather. I had to replace a window motor and for the last few months I am getting engine ping in hot weather, 3 shops checked it out already, could not find anything really wrong, the saga continues.

TransAmMan

I've had my T/A for almost a year now and I haven't had to take it into the shop one time. I had to get the window lining fixed but thats because of the way I leaned on it. Never had a engine problem yet. Treat the car well it'll treat you well. I vouch for the reliablity of the car.

Kenafin_02TA

My fiance and I have 2 f-bodies. The WS6 we've had 2 years with 46K miles. The Firehawk we've had a year with 26K miles. This is what we've had to do to each:

Firehawk:
-window motor, was covered under warrenty
-clutch (caused by racing)
-rear (caused by racing)

WS6:
-rotors (warped from hard braking in rush hour traffic with idiots)
-transmission, 1st was covered under warrenty, 2nd we said f*** it, we're going with a built one
-headlight lowbeam bulb (still to be replaced, just burned out from use)

If you mod the car (as we have) or race it, yeah you're going to have more problems than grandma does with her car. It's the nature of the game...but overall, these cars are very reliable. There are some common problems that will plague most people eventually, window motor, headlight motor, etc, but nothing that major and nothing that will affect the running of the car.

jaberwaki

you should not base your worrys on the site you showed... i mean this is the accord for the same year....http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/re...x?modelid=1346

it has the same 4 outa 5 rating

pinoyboy

ok, sounds good. I guess this weekend I'll go car shopping!

Fulton 1

iTrader: (9)

As noted above, reliability is relative. The powertrain in these cars is really one of the best that GM has put out there (yeah, yeah the rearend is weak, but it WILL last if not abused). A well-maintained, relatively stock, daily driven LS1 F-body will last you a long time. If you start to mod it and race it, then you'll have to make upgrades in accordance. The good news is that the upgrades are available.

My main concern if buying a used F-body would be how well it was treated before I buy it. Because these are relatively inexpensive cars with very good performance they tend to get abused. If you do your research and test drive the car, I'm convinced you will be happy.

Now, with that said there are typical GM type issues that you will likely deal with. Off the top of my head - window motors, interior issues, electrical gremlins, etc. I've had my share of GM's and this is standard fare. The good news is that these problems are usually just annoyances that are readily fixable.

Ferocity02

iTrader: (60)

In all honesty, my car has not been the most reliable thing in the world, and I baby it. About once a week I will take it to redline, and after that it's granny shifting below 2000.

Anyways, my car has had a plethora of problems, and I will probably forget a few.
- Bad window motor, fixed it myself
- E-brake rubbing inside of rotor, not fixed yet
- Two blown AIR check valves in 5000 miles
- Coolant leak, fixed during cam swap
- Car won't start at random
- Car will start, but gauges won't read anything (happened today)
- Brake rotors warped
- Suspension squeaks like a madman
- Rattles EVERYWHERE!
- Spare tire and jack make horrid rattling noise, fixed by removing them
- Rear hatch is hard to close, glass is now cracking from having to slam it to close it
- Weather-stripping is uneven and coming off
- T-tops randomly fly off (hasn't happened to me...yet)
- Tranny clunks and bangs
- Rear-end sucks
- Bad wheel bearing

Anyways... If you are looking for reliability, get a Honda!!!! If you want speed and reliability, get a Corvette. If you want cheap speed w/o much reliability, get a Camaro.

Camaros are decent cars, but there are better choices out there

pinoyboy

So what other choices of cars do you mean? I may have to look at those too. Some of the problems you mentioned kinda worried me, but I still want to try and get one.

Fulton 1

iTrader: (9)

A couple of questions:
1) Are you using AIR restrictors with your MACs?
2) Proper torquing of your LCA's with the BMR SFC's?
3) Why does the rearend suck? Did it break? If so, how/when did it happen?
4) Did you adjust the parking brake travel per the service manual?
5) Why mention T-top flying off since you didn't have that problem?
6) The rear hatch has adjustment in the way of rubber snubbers. Have you tried adjusting those?
7) Think your duals might be contributing to your rattles a little?

My point is that you list a bunch of mods on your car and then complain that it doesn't behave like it should (i.e. like it was stock). I understand the window motor and brake rotor problems - that's common knowledge and very fixable - but anytime you make mods you HAVE to consider the fact that it changes your vehicle's dynamics. This is as true for a DSM as a Camaro as a Ferrari.